After spending several weeks in Scandinavia for the holidays, it’s time to share. From Helsinki to Stockholm. From a Christmas cruise across the Baltic to Helsinki’s premiere culinary school, Perho. Shared here are the highlights of my Scandinavian Christmas journey. Enjoy!
Gingerbread men, gingerbread holiday shapes and not forgetting the “granddaddy” of them all gingerbread houses. The making of these holiday cookies are a time honored tradition in many families across the world. The best gingerbread in the world comes from Nürnberg, Germany and is called lebkuchen . This post contains a wonderful recipe for gingerbread and some insight into the lebkuchen of Nürnberg, Germany. Merry Christmas& Happy Holidays!
A tale of two soups. In order to have an excellent “bouillabaisse”, it is necessary to have an excellent “soupe de poisson” as a base.
Some of the hardest working men and women I have ever worked with were the ones I worked with at sea. “Culinary Arts” at sea is a whole different ball game than on land. It is a multi-billion dollar a year industry that keeps growing. Jobs and employment opportunities are plentiful, especially for those in the hotel and restaurant industry.
Finland is know as the “Land of a Thousand Lakes.” It is the country farthest east in Scandinavia.It is full of natural beauty, and it’s people full of a prideful Scandinavian culture. From the Finnish sauna, to herring markets and information on Baltic sea cruise lines linking the capital of Finland, Helsinki to other Nordic ports of call. This post should be informative and excite people to want to head north to Finland and enjoy a truly special and pure Scandinavian holiday.
This is an inspirational Easter post. The Time of Easter symbolizes a time of rebirth, in the religious context as well as in nature. Here, along with an amazing Greek Easter Lamb recipe, is shared a chef’s story about the INSPIRATION he found in Greece, and how it all ties into some of the symbolism of Easter.
Gastronomy is a way of life in Creole cultures, Reunion Island,in the Indian Ocean being no different. The pride of the cuisine is held dear in the timely culinary secrets passed down from generation to generation. The cuisine here is very aromatic. A plethora of races and nationalities has contributed to the integration of cuisines from India, China, France, Madagascar and the African mainland making the local food, interesting and exotic. I was fortunate to have gone to an outdoor food market while on my visit to the island. My insight is shared in this post.
Nosy Be is about 5 miles off the coast of Madagascar. It is called by the locals “Perfume Island” because of the beautiful fragrances of the island’s exotic ylang-ylang, vanilla beans, and pepper trees.
“As a chef , when one mentions Madagascar, I automatically think of vanilla beans.”Vanilla Beans” of Madagascar are cherished around the world as quite simply the very best. In my experiences as a chef…these beans are usually horded away and locked down in the chef’s office and rationed out…to the cooks in very controlled amounts because of the simple fact that these beans are extremely expensive.